I've avoided blogging on the Kahui twins tragedy thus far but when it seems that some politicians just don't get how our justice system works, and why it works that why, I think I need to say something.

What happened to Chris and Cru Kahui was horrible, and should quite probably be regarded as murder. I hope that the police determine who was reponsible, and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. It disgusts me that the rest of their family have avoided talking to police, and shedding light on who was responsible. I simply don't believe that none of them know anything - and I have no respect for them covering up and delaying the police investigation.

However, as No Right Turn has stated, in New Zealand you do not have to talk to police. In particular, you have the absolute right against self-incrimination. The police can only forcibly question you if you have been arrested, and even then you have the right to say nothing and have a lawyer present. The NZ Herald eventually got around to mentioning this, but took their time about it.

But now we have Russell Fairbrother, a former criminal lawyer, preparing a complaint against the Kahui's lawyer for advising them not to talk to police. Has he forgotten everything? The Kahui's have the absolute right not to talk to police - their lawyer would be negligent to not mention it.

I will state again that I think that their decision to not talk to police is despicable. However, they are well within their rights to do so - Russell Fairbrother is being silly.

Posted by Dave Bryant at 5:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)